Hovind’s attorney [said] his client did not want to enter a plea because he does not believe the United States, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office “have jurisdiction in this matter.”

When pressed by Davis to enter a plea of either guilty or not guilty, Hovind said he wished to enter a plea of “subornation of false muster.” […]

When pressed by Davis, Hovind said he was entering a not guilty plea “under duress.”

Apparently Hovind is maintaining his fanciful idea that the Kingdom of God is an actual country, and presumably churches are its embassies. I wouldn’t mind seeing the judge specifically address that defense.

When asked where he lived, Kent Hovind replied, “I live in the church of Jesus Christ, which is located all over the world. I have no residence.”

U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers will preside over the Hovinds’ trial, for which Davis set a Sept. 5 date.

The article doesn’t say whether the Hovinds are in jail, out on bail, or what.

Neither drdino.com nor dinosauradventureland.com have been updated with any fresh details. The itinerary page still shows Kent Hovind scheduled to perform in Kingsport, TN on the 21st.

28 Responses to Kent Hovind Pleads Douchebaggery

“Apparently Hovind is maintaining his fanciful idea that the Kingdom of God is an actual country, and presumably churches are its embassies.”
I would say that’s quite an assumption to make given that technicalities are everything in this case. Hovind argues (which he shouldn’t have to – the law is right there) that the First Amendment gives the church exemption from laws like this. Actually, laws of any kind.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”

This means that any law that is ever made does not apply to the church. No matter how much you want to refute that based on how ridiculous it may seem to you, it’s there in black and white. There is no room for subjectivity with such a plainly written statement, which is exactly how the writers intended it to be.
Hovind said regarding this, “What part of ‘no law’ do you not understand?”

If you think “establishment of religion” means “church” in the same way that a bar is a “drinking establishment”, then you’re wrong, or at least the Supreme Court disagrees with you. The way the SCOTUS has interpreted the First Amendment over the years is to maintain the vaunted “wall of separation between church and state”.

If all you needed to do to avoid paying taxes — or having any laws apply to you — was to call yourself a church, then Enron, Coca-Cola, Bill Gates, Dick Cheney would all declare themselves churches.

--> It is true that the First Amendment limits government from passing laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion, and as a result, churches across the nation do not pay taxes. You are spot on in your assessement of this simple fact. The problem is that we have many, many laws, some of which churches do not have to abide by, and some of which they do. The structure of our government does not allow for "a priori" assumption of who or what constitutes a church, and subsequent allowing of that who-or-what to ignore certain laws. In plain English: It is the government's responsibility to uphold the first amendment to the Constitution, but it is NOT the goverment's responsibility to go out and discover who or what is a church. It is the CHURCH'S responsibilty to inform the government that it is, in fact, a church, and the way they display this responsibility is to file for extemption from taxes for non-profit organizations (you can find this in Title 26 of the U.S. Code.) Bear in mind: there's no LAW which states that you-must-file-for-exemption-or-you're-breaking-the-law. You can not file, if you don't want to. But then you're not a church according to the IRS and you must pay taxes on any revenue. You pay the consequences of your choice.
There's no law which states that, once my passport has expired, I MUST renew it or I'm breaking the law. However, travelling to another country without a visa or without a reciprocal agreement between countries IS breaking the law (of at least one of the countries.) I would pay the consequences of my choice. Similiarly, you are not required by law to file for exemption. You can simply not file, and pay taxes on your revenue like every other profit business. But if you are profiting from a business, and not paying taxes on your revenue, you are breaking the law, pure and simple. It's very simple for a church to show tax-exempt status, especially a Christian church in a Christian majority country with Christianity privileged over most other religions.
Kent Hovind does not want or need to make a new case for the First Amendment. His First Amendment rights are intact. Kent Hoving wants to make a statement about why his church does not need to register as a church where every other church in the country does. This is the real issue that motivates him. For Hovind, there is something denigrating, oppressive and immoral about letting his government acknowledge his business as a church. For him, living and working for Jesus Christ is all that is necessary. He will argue the sentient points to that affect. But as a case, it will not hold up in court. I'm sorry.
[Edited for readability, arensb, Fri Aug 25 15:35:40 EDT 2006]

Common sense would tell anyone that there is more than ordinary fury surrounding this man. Thousands and thousands of rabid anti-hovind sites on the net testify to the fact that this man is making some massively tax funded institutional folks very nervous.

Ever see Hovinds debates? The opponents (such as Dr. Robert Trivers, who is listed by Time magazine as one of the top 100 thinkers in America )are reduced to name calling and such temper tantrums as should shame a three year old.

The first debate I saw had three professors from Emory Riddle University that flat out denied the whale vestigal pelvis is ever taught in evolution. Any Mother knows that that whale vestigal pelvis is in the Little Golden Book on evolution, in every elementary , middle and high school science text . The whale vestigal pelvis is on the SAT exam, the GRE exam and also in many college biology textbooks. Yet three educated eggheads refuse to admit the whale vestigal pelvis is ever taught? Hovinds opponents are left confounded-unable to articulate their point and enraged to the point of absurdity .

Herein we find a strong warning to remember the persecution of Galileo by the supposed academic elite theologians and see it happen once again within our own time.

Kent Hovind has done a lot to open peoples minds to the things that are happening in the world.. The unitied states, and the United States, the corporation and the country.. there are so many things that people are in bondage to. I think this case has a lot to do with the definition of the law.. there is a lot riding on this for both sides.. if Hovind is let go on this one it will set a standard .. theres intense battle going on here .. there are suppressed videos that he has done that are extreeeemely hard to get hold of, such as whats known as his “straw man video” and the earlier versions of his seminars from around the year 2000 go into some interesting stuff. If anyone can get “the straw man” video / mp3 maby? post it on a site somewhere and make some waves. Hovind is exposing the flaws and realities of bondage that has been put on people.. Other informative documentaries about money systems and the current state of things in the USA are themoneymasters (themoneymasters.com) and Alex Jones films (infowars.com/prisonplanet.com) Also reading his TAX LETTER helps shed some light on the matter. He really does make a lot of sense when you look at some of the evidence of the slavery that has been put on people.. the “psychological” slavery of the money system.. there are alternatives like the CES (www.ces.org.za) but im not sure how far these will go.. only time will tell. In the meantime we should all keep searching for the Truth. Seek and find. 😉

Hey, Ellipsis Eileen Andrew: despite what you may have learned on Myspace, it’s customary to end a sentence with one period, not two. And if you were trying to use ellipses, those have three periods.

Having said that,

The unitied states, and the United States, the corporation and the country..

This is paranoid conspiracy-nut bullshit.

if Hovind is let go on this one it will set a standard ..

Well, he’s been found guilty, so the only way he’ll be let go is with a suspended sentence or a gubernatorial pardon.

there are suppressed videos that he has done that are extreeeemely hard to get hold of, such as whats known as his “straw man video” and the earlier versions of his seminars from around the year 2000 go into some interesting stuff.

I doubt this stuff is suppressed. Rather, I think Hovind stopped making his old recordings freely available. I have MP3s of his seminar from 1999, and in it he claimed that the New World Order folks wanted to reduce the population of the planet to 0.5 billion (that is, kill 5.5 billion people) by May 1, 2000. I suspect Hovind pulled that one to avoid embarrassment.

As for the “straw man”, the notion that the government has set up a corporation with your name, except written in all-caps, that’s nutjob paranoid bullshit. If there’s a video of Hovind talking about this, put it up on Youtube; it’ll be good for a few laughs.

Hovind is exposing the flaws and realities of bondage that has been put on people..

No, he’s exposing himself for the credulous fool that he is. He certainly couldn’t manage to convince twelve of his peers of the “realities of bondage” that you mention.

So how about you come out of your reinforced, Y2K-resistant bunker, and see what life’s like in the real world? You do know that Illuminatus! is fiction, right?

Well, Hovind may be called alot of names, but I have seen him absolutely obliterate opponents of every kind. What he says is crazy? Maybe, but if the opponents are whop they say they are, the atheist/evolutionist/political camp that critizes him better get their whipped butts off the canvas before throwing all of these accusations. I have never seen him lose, unfortunately, there wont be much debating in jail! Any updates on that?

If he’s such a good debater, why does he feel the need to lie all the time? And why won’t he engage in a written debate, where people can think about one of his points before moving on to the next?

The fact is that Hovind uses the Gish gallop, in which he spews many falsehoods during his alloted time, and properly explaining why any one of those points is wrong would take all of his opponent’s time.

In short, the only reason Hovind does as well as he does in debates is because he’s slick and uses rhetorical tricks. As far as the facts go, he’s so full of shit that even Answers in Genesis has called him on it.

arensb:
Engaging in written debate would take too much time when you probably get over 3 thousand emails a day, but you wouldn’t know anything about that because you’re lucky if you get one. Spewing many falsehoods!! Are you brain dead? Have you looked at the text books lately? Have you even watched the videos you simpleton?
You have no facts other than you write like a moron…and probably look like one to boot!

Well look at it this way, he might be in prison but he’s not the one getting pumped in the ass like you! You still have answered my initial questions…which I knew you wouldn’t. Instead you just dodged the question like every other liberal or republican. You seriously need to learn some debating skills son. 😉

I can’t believe that educated (hopefully) people here are actually supporting the mere thought that Kent Hovind’s videos are convincing! They are laughable I have a over 12 VHS tapes each with 3+ hours of his seminars. Nearly every word he utters is misleading and uses bad logic. People who believe in what Kent Hovind has said are the most easily duped people I can think of.

He has said: Evolution is from the Nazis, the Grand Canyon was formed is weeks, there are dinosaurs in the swamps of South America, dinosaurs are just big reptiles (eg giant iguanas), the sun is not beneficial to all life because it ruins his car’s paint, Noah had baby dinosaurs on the ark, the world is 6000 years old, evolutionist believe that grandpa cam from a rock; the list goes on. He commonly uses the “If it can’t be proved 100% accuracy it must be false, and I must be right!”

This all comes from a man who has an illegitimate doctorate in an unscientific field from an unaccredited university. People you might as well step back into the Dark Ages, just because a man in a suit tells you something that sounds pretty does not make it truth.

Stephen says:
He has said: Evolution is from the Nazis, the Grand Canyon was formed is weeks, there are dinosaurs in the swamps of South America, dinosaurs are just big reptiles (eg giant iguanas), the sun is not beneficial to all life because it ruins his car’s paint, Noah had baby dinosaurs on the ark, the world is 6000 years old, evolutionist believe that grandpa cam from a rock; the list goes on. He commonly uses the “If it can’t be proved 100% accuracy it must be false, and I must be right!”

I am wondering Stephen, if you do not think that the Grand Canyon formed in a short time then do you believe that the Colorado River flowed uphill for millions of years to form the canyon. Maybe you think the river flowed uphill for one year many millions of years ago until it carved enough dirt to flow down hill. Maybe you should try looking objectively at some of the information instead of letting your preconceived bias interfere with your thought processes. How many of you who hate Kent Hovind think that your brain evolved from an amoeba when it has approximately 10,000,000,000,000 electical connections in that little three pound lump of tissue. I tell you what you can do; find a small animal like a frog or a mouse and split its head open and take that brain tissue and watch it for a while and see what happens. That’s rediculous you say, but you would be starting way ahead of an amoeba so I’m actually giving you a fighting chance based on your own thoughts. Hey when was the last time that we have ever seen an animal give birth to something other than the same animal. Never. So with the myth of evolution now disproven to you there is only one other choice. God is real. He made you because he loves you and even though he knew all the bad that you would do before he created you He decided to do it anyway. That is why we should love him in return. Just think about it, if one thing with you is wrong out of many then you would not be living(i.e. heart, liver, stomach problems). It’s like a car-the whole thing has to be made all assembled at once inorder to work. Your brain could not have evolved, your heart could not have evolved. When was the last time your heart decided it could work better so it told your genetic code that it should change for your children. Now hopefully you have accepted that there has to be a God. Now think, can there be more than one God. The answer is no on an elementary philosophical level. If there are two gods then neither could be God. There can only be one. Now if you have truly studied the various religions of the world you would know that christianity is the only one that says that God has done it all for us. You do not have to join and fulfill all kinds of different duties inorder to achieve anything. You just have to believe in the one true God. Now doesn’t that just make sense. Wouldn’t an almighty creator that made you want to make it easy for you. I think so. If this has helped you then you can start by reading the gospel of John. Truly Yours, Big B

Creationists: just because you don’t understand evolution, that doesn’t make it not true.

The Grand Canyon flowing uphill? I dunno. Maybe the land was different when it began. I know it’s hard to imagine change over time, but deal. And as for the brain? I dunno, read a book on evolution for once. Watch it? Uhh. it takes a while. More time than you could possibly imagine.

Frankiefiggs? Umm, I’ll answer your question. Just look at the bottom sources for his “evidence” in textbooks. Whats the most recent? 1974 maybe? I can’t begin to stress the advancement we’ve made in THE PAST 6 YEARS, let alone 30, 40, and even 80 (Scopes-Monkey trial. By the way, look up other Supreme Court Cases that show why teaching Creation Science in schools is unconstitutional instead of listening to a dick in a tie tell you one side and not the other). Yes, you are right, and I have to give it to you. 1970’s elementary textbooks did not quite nail the intricacies of the theory of evolution, which requires years of research to understand portions of (science is collective, you see).

And finally, the New World Order conspiracy. Yeah. Right. Wake up, and get off your conspiracy crutch. Stop watching wrestling, because it’s affecting your conceptions of reality. I’d rather believe that ONE man is corrupt than that the whole country, no, WORLD is working together for unknown evil purposes (nobody would benefit from this so-called Order) to make one man appear to be corrupt. Umm, if they HAVE the power you say they do, why don’t they just kill him and make it look like an accident? Because sending him to jail for 10 years and allowing all of his DVDs to be in circulation is really shutting him up.

You’re stupid. Get over it. You’ve been fooled, so just take your beliefs and alter them a little. Or do you love this man more than Jesus?

Rusty JESUS bled and died for u. dont leave the scene of time without him, he loves u, even though u hate him! he is willing and able to forgive us our sins. dont spend eternity in hell but rather live forever in the light of god in heaven. if u reject this message it may be your last chance of God calling in your life. please come to God.

Bashing others’ beliefs but citing no references gives no evidence for either side of any argument. I would suggest doing some major research. Look for evidence for your beliefs, and also look for evidence for your opponents’ beliefs, not only to increase your own understanding, but also to be able to refute your opponent with more wisdom. And also realize that popular opinion means nothing. The earth isn’t flat, and yet a majority of scientists used to believe this, yes? Remember that popular belief, famous person(s) beliefs, none of that matters when it comes down to what is truth.
Contemplate this:
Those who search their own hearts find corruption.
Those who search the universe find balance.
Those who search both their own hearts and the universe find wisdom.
However, there is only one truth.
Are you searching?

I hope you find the truth. Remember, you only get one try, one chance, one life, to find it.
Sincerely,
Benjamin

God sends His witnesses to this world and some of them get stoned some of them are jailed. But the Judgment day is coming. My friend be honest with your self, do you feel emptiness in your hart? if you never experienced God his presence in your life, ask Him and he will show you his power. Don’t forget he is a loving God. He doesnt’ want to strike you down. The choice is yours.

Matthew 7:7
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

What’s the unspoken subtext here, Sergio? God doesn’t want to strike down one of his creations, but will do so if that creation doesn’t believe? Ooooooo- ballsy. The all-knowing, all-powerful, supreme overlord of all can’t tolerate a little dissent and will visit an eternity of punishment on the unbeliever. Sounds like the perfect candidate to replace Bush on the neo-con ticket for PotUS.

Please. Explain this fundie insistence on threatening people while claiming to hold some exclusive high ground of morality.

I think you should stick to the topic at hand and address the questions proffered instead of trying to change the subject. I will however take the time to burn down your strawman by stating that at no point in my response was there any ire expressed at anyone but fundies who feel it necessary to resort to threats of eternal violence for not falling in line.

You see what you want to see. If you go on journey seeking to support evolutionary concepts, then you will find supporting material. If you seek evidence for creation, it is abundant as well.

Gareth Morgan’s in his Images of Organization states that, “When scientists study light as a wave, it reveals itself as a wave. When it is studied as a particle, it reveals itself as a particle.” I think that “the beginning” holds true to this test as well, however no one will ever be able to repruduce creation or macro evolution.

Whats interesting, is that what it really all comes down to is a matter of faith. Now here is where everyone must put their objective thinking hat on for a minute, put away all preconcieved ideas and ponder what I am saying.

If you subscribe to creation then you believe that God created everything from His spoken word, which is faith. Therefore the faith is, “In the beginning God…”. But I present that evolution must also be described as a faith.

The, “in the beginning,” for evolution begins with some matter that started the whole chain of events. Well not ever being able to identify where that matter came from, or what it was, the statement of faith is, “In the beginning matter…”.

So you believe that either God or matter pre-existed all that we know to exist. True science (not theory) must be able to reproduce with certain outcome an event, in this case the introduction of an entirely different species. So neither creation or evolution qualifies as true science. I think they are both based therefore solely on faith when it all comes down to it and you see what you want to believe.

Why don’t you learn something about evolution before spouting off about it? No point in displaying your ignorance to the world. For that matter, why not go visit your local natural history museum and look at some fossils and stuff?

What is sad is a jury of sheeple convicted Hovind. They’re the blind following the blind, and they’re both heading for a ditch. Jury nullification is where it’s at. Even if a person is guilty of breaking a law, if the law’s unjust, then the jury should find him innocent. But jurist automatically assume what the judge says is correct.